öde Existenz
by Graphic Horrors
Summary: Annie/Bertholdt/Reiner/Berik. Story of their childhood, how they met and how they became Warriors. Title means roughly 'Bleak Existence'.


**I LOVE THE TITAN TRIO, SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS, IT WILL BE MOSTLY STUPID SHENANIGANS, BECAUSE I SEEM TO BE BETTER WITH COMEDY RATHER THAN ACTION OR DRAMA, BUT IT WILL BE SERIOUS TOO. TAKES PLACE WHEN ANNIE IS 8 AND THE BOYS ARE LIKE 10 OR 11, BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THEIR MISSION. ALSO, BERIK IS IN THIS TOO, BECAUSE HE ISN'T DEAD YET. HOPE THIS IS OKAY :)**

**PLEASE REVIEW, IM A WHORE FOR REVIEWS BTW :) BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO**

**ALSO, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO HAPPEN TO THEM, JUST DROP THE SUGGESTION AND I'LL QUITE LIKELY PUT IT IN :)**

Alone.

Annie Leonhardt was often alone nowadays. Deep in the mountains, deep in the forests. It was her father who suggested she should go on a solitary hunting trip. Her father had always been a protective individual, yet secretive too, to Annies' dismay. For as long as she could remember, he was always there for her, filling the gaps of deficient socialization. However, as of late, he had grown more and more distant from her. Whenever he did spend time with her, it was either for training or meals. She missed him, missed that idiotic smile he gave her when she used to laugh, or even missed the basic appearance of parental affection. There was barely any of that now, just an unsatisfied compliment or distant embrace.

Her training had began when she witnessed the birth of her fifth spring. It was on that day of her birth, that he told her. She was a monster.

It was always a desolate existence, but far from dejected.

Three of those rough springs had passed since the first change. She had reached her eighth summer now.

She stood in the river, bare footed with the legs of her moss tainted pants rolled up around her knees. She straddled the water, staring down at the flow of liquid diamonds, awaiting her prey with what could only be described as a predators patience. The water tickled her bare legs, reaching up to her shins. The water was so cool against the warm afternoon air. It was refreshing almost.

Her hands pounced into the water with a lesser splash at lightning speed. Her fingers snaked around the slippery body of a floundering trout, capturing it in a fatal coil. It emerged from its clouded world, clasped in a firm grip between two merciless hands.

She trudged out of the river, and onto the dry land. The fish in hand shook desperately to claim its' liberty. She looked at it, without a care, before crouching closer the ground.

_Die. _She ordered, as she smacked its' head against the ground in a single swift blow.

It stopped moving and the blood trailed out from its gills, and onto her hands, briefly staining the ground in a dark shade of red.

_Dinner sorted_ she thought, lifting herself to wander over to nearby tree, where her backpack was hidden under with a pitiful fire crackling away quietly.

_Knife, knife, knife..._ She hunted through her pockets with her free right hand. _There it is._

She planted herself down against her bag, readying to gut her catch.

_**Boom boom... Boom boom boom... Boom...**_

She eyes dashed up, shaking violently to survey the area around her. She kept herself low and kicked out her fire, dropping her dinner and knife.

_Titans... Fuck, Titans... _She readied her fathers ring, which settled on her pointer finger.

**_BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM_**

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... _She sucked on her bottom lip and turned her vision left and right.

A blurred pair of gigantic bodies crashed through the treeline in front of her. She watched one jump onto the other, and force it onto the ground with unimaginable dynamism.

She jumped to avoid the immense amount of debris which flew from the two belligerent Titans.

_Owww... What the hell? Are those Titans fighting? Does that mean...? Those must either be Deviants, or like me? _Her icy eyes glanced up, catching sight of the two behind the sea of dust. The one on top appeared to have short, light, almost white hair and a bulky, armored physique. The one pinned down below was almost as bulky, but unarmored and skinless.

The Armored Titan punched at the Skinless Titan, but it dodged the assault and broke free of its' hold.

Annie watched in awe, she never expected this, not in an entire vast eternity. _Fuck this_ she thought, looking back to where her bag was sitting. _Bastards! _Trees and rocks submerged her few belongings, trapping them forever out of her human reach. _I need my bag... I won't survive without it this far away from home. Should I? But... I still can't control it... I have to do it... I'll have to eventually, won't I?_

She glared at her hand, glared at the ring. _I have to dad... I need to._

She slit her thumb with the hidden hook within the ring and a sharp, emerald bolt of lightning struck down from the orange sky. Her Titan body began to form, stripping her own body of all possible movement. Her heartbeat increased, pounding away twice a second, all too clear beside her boiling thoughts. _It hurts... It burns... It's so hot in here... _she cried. _Those fuckers... This is their fault... All their fault. I should kill them... I can kill them can't I? _She felt herself snigger, as her skinless Titan bodice stood there with steam blowing out of its pores.

Her eyes opened, glancing over to the two battling Titans. The Skinless Titan had stopped to watch her, with its clouded, widened eyes. The Armored Titan plunged at him, taking him down to the earth again in a titanic quake.

_No, no I can't... I have to get my things and run. These forms, and all this noise... We're attracting the Titans attention. Come on, Annie, hurry, find that stupid bag! _Her form jumped over to the lump of debris, ripping up the trees. _There it is! _She picked up, pressing the huge backpack between her thumb and pointer finger. She looked back to the two Titans, they were still fighting, although the Skinless Titan seemed far less aggressive than before, more calm in fact.

_Run, get away, survive. _She pushed the bag into her palm and sealed it there, before sprinting off away from the other two Titans.

She ran around a mile away, or so she guessed. She stopped, and listening. It was quiet, all the animals around had scattered and ran from her. She sighed, now she had to get out. _I'm safe now, I'm far enough away, the goal has been completed, let me go... Just let me go! _Her body collapsed with a grandly audible echo. Her back arched, ripping through the dissipating layers of flesh. Her had emerged next, she opened her eyes, staring at the red and pink meat below her. _Almost there... _she cringed, pulling her arms free.

The crunch of a twig reverberated into her ears, and she looked down to find the source. _Fuck, not now..._

"Shit..." She heard a gritted, nerving whisper. _A person?_

She looked closer, spotting a boy below, frozen in shock. All she could notice from him was the stained, ragged blue coat he was wearing, and he looked to have black hair. He stared at her, unmoving, like the dumb trout. She ignored him, and focused back to liberating her limbs. Her upper torso was out in a matter of minutes. Her legs were last, her thighs were free, but the knee down was trapped. She screamed, pushing all of her strength into the final pull.

She erupted from the nape of the neck, and began to descend. She fell backwards from her ten metre perch. _I can't find a hold, I can't stop, I'm falling, no, no!_

Her back hit the ground. But somehow, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. The landing didn't feel soft, but softer than it was supposed to be. She groaned, and looked behind her curiously.

Her eyes widened at the sight. She had landed on top of the boy she had seen before, she sat against his belly. She felt rather small on top of him, he was apparently tall. _Fuck! _She gasped, leaping away from him, crouching in a defensive stance.

He slowly sat up, holding his stomach with a quiet grunt. When he looked over to her, he caught a better sight of her than from before. _She- She's pretty... _He thought, with his lips parting. He took note of her glacial blue eyes, they glared at him with a sharpened edge, her light blonde hair, tied up into a messy bun, and her small, but slim frame. He blinked, releasing his green eyes from glancing over her. She looked so deadly, no matter how delicate she appeared to him. "G-gruß." _Greetings. _He stuttered, trying to tell her he wasn't a threat.

She glared a moment more, before standing straight. "Gruß" _greetings_ she stared down at him, speaking with a voice that sounded like a buck scraping its antlers against a tree. _He looks nervous. But, did he save me on purpose, or was that an accident? _She noted that his hair wasn't black, but a dark shade of brown, like bark.

She turned to go for her backpack, which fell to the ground as her Titan form melted away. She would survive. She sighed, shaking her head, finding her sights back to the boy. He had stood up now, he was indeed tall, perhaps she could reach just above his elbow. _Why is he staring like that..._

"H-hey... I'm Bertholdt" he spoke weakly, lowering his head.

She raised a brow, and pulling her bag over her shoulders. It felt heavy, she always felt weaker after transforming back. "Annie."

He nodded, still staring. He'd always stared at people, it wasn't his fault, even if it seemed creepy at times, which he acknowledged. "Have you seen my friends? You probably seem them, they were Titans when I last seen them..."

She turned to face him, keeping a few metres distance on purpose. She nodded "those bastards that forced me to transform, they were fighting about a mile away."

"Oh..." He looked away, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, they got into a fight, Reiner got out of control again..."

She turned to leave. _Just ignore him, Annie. He's weak, he won't survive long, nether will you if you keep talking to him._

_"_Wait..." He tried to call.

"What is it?" She stopped, not bothered to even glance back.

He shook his head "nothing, it was nothing... I just... Können Sie mir helfen? I need to find them..." _Can you help me?..._ _I want to be with you a little longer._

_"_Keine" she answered bluntly. _Solitary huntress, not a pack mate. Father said to survive we must be capable of working alone._

He took a few steps closer, frowning. "Please, they've never gone this far before... I can't do this alone." _I don't want to do this alone._

She glared up at him, nearly snarling.

He looked at her, unwavering.

She dashed for him and before a moment passed, she had him pinned to the ground, with her forearm pinned against his throat. "Leave me alone" her words were as cold as her eyes.

"V-vorlage" he gasped, staring up at her. _Submission._

"Hm?" She hummed, tilting her head.

She seemed to like the word, he noted, liked that someone bigger than herself was saying it to her. "Ich Einreichung, Annie." _I submit._

"Do you now?" She wanted to laugh at him, but a one sided grin was all she could manage.

He nodded slowly. "Ich Einreichung."

She waited a moment, taking her time to settle at the thought of helping him. "Why won't you transform?"

"I can't... It takes too much."

"Then you are weak."

"Yes... I know" he looked away, resting his cheek against the dirt.

She nodded once more, staring at him. "I'll help you."

He looked back up, but she pressed her hand against his face, forcing him back into the dirt.

"Vorlage" she breathed. "That's the only condition. Understand?"

"Yes" he spoke, his mouth muffled by her hand.

"Good" she lifted herself slowly from him, dusting herself off. She didn't need company, it was bad to her, like an awkward form of taboo. But she had never seen anyone other than her father, or the occasional Titan. She'd never seen anyone around her age before.

She was curious. That was all.


End file.
